By Vasanta Sobha Turaga
Hyderabad qualifies to be World Heritage City in terms of age, variety and extent of history and architecture. Spread in about nine historic clusters/zones of the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad, it is truly a place with living history and tradition. Using the Unesco terminology, from the Operational Guidelines, it is an indisputable fact that ‘the City evolved along characteristic lines of time, space and function and has preserved the spatial arrangements and structures that are typical of the successive stages in its history’. Visiting national and international scholars, experts and tourists have also authenticated the view that Hyderabad has much more potential than many other historic cities in India.
Hyderabad’s ancient history goes back to 4th Century B.C to heritage surviving from the 12th Century. This fast-growing metropolitan city has evolved over the years, from the Fortress Town of Golconda to giving birth in 1591, to the planned city of Hyderabad. It was built around the wonderful Charminar – a Qutb Shahi monument of unparalleled beauty. While the Nizams of Hyderabad gave us huge Palace complexes of Falaknuma, Chow-Mahalla, Purani Haveli, King Kothi and Mahaboob Mansion, the British added the gorgeous Residency Complex to the list in the 1800s. It would be a grave mistake in reporting historical facts if the other half of Hyderabad – the 200-year-old Cantonment-town of
Secunderabad with many pretty colonial bungalows and buildings to its credit. Somehow, it is not included as a part of the City’s heritage. Like every other city, the Railways brought their share of heritage and changed the city’s profile forever. The buildings built in the early 20th Century Indo-Saracenic architecture – the Assembly, High Court, Osmania Hospital, Arts College etc. — enhanced the silhouette of the city just before independence.
World Heritage City proposal by Vasaamaha Consultants
If the proposal to make Golconda Fort, a World Heritage Site has been on Tentative List for three decades, the idea of nominating Hyderabad, as a World Heritage City was also mooted as early as 2002 by us, Vasaamaha Consultants and supported by Government of Andhra Pradesh (United AP).
Vasaamaha submitted a proposal for preparing the nomination as per Unesco Guidelines to the Department of Tourism in September 2000 and submitted an application to the Secretary, Indian National Commission for Cooperation with Unesco, Govt. of India, in October 2000 for Unesco’s Preparatory Fund Grant.
The AP Government appointed a Committee for Declaration of Hyderabad as a Heritage City, under the Chairmanship of Dr V K Bawa in December 2000. Mr. S.P. Shorey, who then worked with HUDA, prepared the proposal in the Tentative List Format, which was sent by the CMO to PMO in October 2001. It was not forwarded to Unesco in February 2002.
Hyderabad’s proposal reaches Unesco
While the government of India’s response to the initiatives taken by the state government is casual, the reaction of the Unesco Officials at Paris with whom direct correspondence is on is overwhelming. It renews our optimism for pursuing the dream of getting the World Heritage Status to Hyderabad
Putting Hyderabad ahead of Jaipur, the Hyderabad proposal has been unofficially handed over twice to UNESCO:
1. First, at UNESCO – ASI Workshop held at New Delhi in July 2001 at the behest of Dr Vaidyanatha Aiyer, the then Secretary, Culture.
2. A proposal prepared in the Tentative List Format was submitted at the World Heritage Centre, Unesco, Paris, by Dr. C. Narayana Reddy, M.P., Rajya Sabha during his visit in November 2002.
3. In the last week of Feb 2003, a document of photographs, maps and drawings of “Ten Historic Clusters of Hyderabad”, prepared by Vasaamaha Consultants, was sent to UNESCO by Mr N Chandrababu Naidu, the then Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, as a supporting document to the actual nomination, which has to be sent by the Central Government. We received positive feedback from Unesco, advising us to prepare management plans and send the official nomination in the prescribed format.
World Heritage Status hopes for Golconda and Hyderabad lost?
No doubt, Warangal temples and Gates deserve the coveted World Heritage status and Telangana Government’s initiative is laudable. In the sequence of events, Golconda and Hyderabad, which have been on the Tentative List for a longer duration, have somehow lost out and seem to be out of picture.
While there is no information on the status of the Golconda-Hyderabad Nomination Dossier submitted in 2012, the other site “Monuments and Forts of Deccan Sultanate (includes Gulbarga, Bidar, Bijapur and Golconda)” added to the Tentative List in 2014, remains a non-starter.
In the last few years, Ahmedabad grabbed the first ever WH City status in India in 2017, followed by Jaipur City in 2019. Delhi City is added to the Tentative List in 2012. Not having Hyderabad city on the Tentative List is disheartening and disappointing. It is hoped that government of Telangana is not neglecting Hyderabad. It should re-initiates the proposal and take up with the Government of India, along with Warangal to get the first ever WH titles to Telangana State at the earliest.
Vasanta Sobha Turaga is a well-known conservation architect. She worked on various projects in India and abroad.